Mary Queen of Scots (2018)

This is probably one of the worst historical movies ever made, if not the worst. I only have rudimentary knowledge of the whole Mary-Elizabeth drama (derived mostly from the young adult The Royal Diaries series which were honestly some of my favourite books growing up) and even I could clearly see that the characterisations of the historical figures were way off. There was an obvious attempt at portraying Mary as the morally and ethically superior woman, which is fine- filmmakers and storytellers are, and should be, free to interpret events in their own way. But it is absolutely disgraceful when there is not a single layer or nuance to Elizabeth's character. Show her as a villain, sure, but do not show her as a useless moron who relied only on the counsel of the men around her, and was jealous of Mary because of her "womanly attributes". It is even more shameful when you realise that it was a woman directing the movie, especially such a wokeTM woman who was okay with casting POC actors for confirmed white historical figures, because she refused to make a period drama with only white characters. I don't even know how to respond to such galaxy brain thinking. Oh, and spoiler alert: wokeTM white woman director (of course) also had no qualms about using the "queer character dies" trope. Lovely.

Mary Queen of Scots also finally made me realise what everyone means when they use the word "hammy" for performances, because literally every actor here (except for David Fricking Brilliant Tennant) was hamming it up. I know Saoirse Ronan is supposedly a universally acclaimed actress and I want to keep an open mind about her, but my god, her acting was so bad here I had to skip through scenes just to avoid looking at her. Margot Robbie was tolerable, and had they written her part better, she might even have been good. But honestly, David Tennant was the only one who came close to saving the movie- but since his role was quite short, he didn't even get that opportunity. Shame.

In conclusion, the sex scenes traumatised me. Watch this movie at your own risk.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shyam Singha Roy (2021)

There is honestly nothing more annoying than a movie that has flashes of being a good movie, but turns out to be a bad one anyway. Not only have you watched a bad film, but you have also been cheated of all hope and it's exhausting, to say the least.  Also, when this movie is a first day first show, you can't help but feel betrayed. Full "I trusted you!" moment only.  The first half was so tedious to sit through, I genuinely thought of leaving after the interval at one point. I didn't though, because Sai Pallavi only made her entry in the second half, and let's face it, she was the real reason for me to go watch it anyway. I mean, Nani was a huge pull factor too, but after Tuck Jagadish (2021) and V (2020), I was a little wary of trusting this man completely. As I should, because look what he made me sit through... again! (I swear to god, if the Nazriya film isn't good, I just might never watch a Nani movie ever again). Back to Pallu though- she is the onl
Read more

Aasai (1995)

My only regret is that I wish I knew absolutely nothing about this movie before watching it. I know I'm 26 years too late to the party, but honestly, not knowing the basic premise would have made things even more scary and messed up, not that there wasn't enough of those sentiments already. But to watch it unfold like the psychotic drama it was on the big screen, while innocently expecting another cute sweet love story featuring foetus Thala... I would give anything to have that experience. I know we love poking fun at Prakash Raj for being the evergreen villain, but it takes an Aasai for one to truly understand why he's earned that reputation. He really brings to life the evil but powerful psychopath who can manipulate people and situations to get what he wants, and I swear I was shaking a little when the movie ended because he is just that good at driving the point home. That's the thing about well-written thrillers- they work excellently as horror movies because you
Read more

Pokiri (2006)

Sairam, thank god I had forgotten the "twist", despite having seen Bhai's Wanted (2009) when it came out. Not only was I majorly zoned out (so much that I don't even remember for sure if I slept for sometime in the middle) but I have also actively tried to erase all memories of it. Which is why I was shocked enough to legit scream when the big twist came along.  From what I have heard about Pokiri , it sounds like some kind of cultural reset. And going by that, I must say that it totally lived up to that hype. Prince Mahesh seems to be at the peak of his career, and it's a performance that is memorable in more ways than one- he really shines through as the cool, stylish hero who outsmarts villains and beats them up. Of course, he needs a solid story and some killer dialogues as well, both of which are amply present here. I loved how understated his commitment dialogue was, especially in comparison to Bhai's exaggeration, the memory of which still gives me war
Read more